MESSAGE BOARD
NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Gulshan murder approver says cops beat him up

In a significant twist to the Gulshan Kumar murder case, the Bombay high court has converted into petition a letter written by accused-turned approver, Mohammed Ali Hussain Shaikh, seeking bail.

The petition will come up for hearing on October 5 before Justice Vishnu Sahai who had earlier refused to grant bail to Shaikh.

The matter was mentioned early this week by Additional Public Prosecutor Kiran Kapoor before Justice Sahai who decided to hear the petition after a month.

The letter, dated September 29 last year, was addressed to the high court registrar. It was written by the approver a week after his bail was turned down.

In the letter, Shaikh has sought withdrawal of the pardon granted to him, alleging that he was beaten up by police officials and "forced" to become an approver. Shaikh has said he chose to turn approver only after cops paid his family Rs 5000 each on three occasions.

He said the cops made false promises of getting him released within a week of his making a statement before the court.

Shaikh claimed he owned up to the recovery of two pistols from his possession, although the arms were not seized from him.

PTI

Tell us what you think of this report